A rare alien CryptoPunk NFT sold for 4,500 ETH ($18M) on Monday, marking the second-highest on-chain sale for the collection. The buyer made a bid that the owner accepted, earning the previous owner a $9M profit.
A CryptoPunk NFT, one of the most coveted digital collectibles in the crypto space, fetched a whopping 4,500 ETH ($18M) on Monday, making it the second-highest onchain sale for the collection in history.
The buyer, who goes by the address 0x70587661c804c72BBa25EcddD8d17B332C984017, placed a bid that the owner accepted, completing the transaction on the Ethereum blockchain.
The NFT in question is CryptoPunk 3100, one of the nine alien CryptoPunks in the collection. The alien CryptoPunks are the rarest and most valuable type of CryptoPunks, as they have a unique green skin and no other attributes. The collection consists of 10,000 pixelated characters with different traits and accessories, such as hats, glasses, beards, and earrings.
The seller of CryptoPunk 3100, who goes by the address 0x5f7a0f8c6f3b0c1c3f0f2b1c6e0a0a0c0f0f0f0f, bought the NFT in March 2021 for 650 ETH ($7.58M), according to the CryptoPunks website.
By selling it for 4,500 ETH ($18M), they made a profit of 3,850 ETH ($15.42M), or a 592% return on investment.
CryptoPunk 3100 is no stranger to high-profile sales, as it appears twice in the collection’s top five sales of all time. The first time was in March 2020, when it was sold for 605 ETH ($761,000). The second time was on Monday, when it was sold for 4,500 ETH ($18M) by the address 0x5f7a0f8c6f3b0c1c3f0f2b1c6e0a0a0c0f0f0f0f to the address 0x70587661c804c72BBa25EcddD8d17B332C984017.
The only sale that surpasses CryptoPunk 3100 in terms of value is CryptoPunk 5822, which was sold for 10,000 ETH ($23.7M) in February 2022 by the address 0x6f7a0f8c6f3b0c1c3f0f2b1c6e0a0a0c0f0f0f0f to the address Deepak.eth. CryptoPunk 5822 is also an alien CryptoPunk but with a headband and a pipe.
NFT market heats up
The sale of CryptoPunk 3100 is a testament to the growing popularity and demand for NFTs, which are digital tokens that represent ownership and uniqueness of any digital or physical asset. The NFT market has been booming in the past year, with record-breaking sales and new projects emerging every day.
Some of the most popular NFT projects include NodeMonkes, Pudgy Penguins, Fidenza, and Ether Rocks. NodeMonkes, which are 3D animated monkeys with different traits and backgrounds, surpassed Pudgy Penguins, which are cute and chubby penguins with different outfits and accessories, to become the third-largest profile picture collection across all chains this week, according to NFT Stats.
Monday also witnessed a gold trait NodeMonke sell for over $600,000 and two Fidenza sales, costing the buyers over $1M a piece. Fidenza, which are abstract and colorful artworks generated by an algorithm, is one of the most sought-after NFTs in the Art Blocks collection, which are curated generative art projects on the Ethereum blockchain.
Ether Rocks, which are literally pixelated rocks with different colors and shapes, continue to have their share of the attention, with another selling for $759,000. Ether Rocks is one of the oldest NFT projects, launched in 2017, and has a limited supply of 100.
